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Consumer Reports Stages 'Future of the Car' Event
Automakers show off fuel cells, electric vehicles and hybrids
Charles J. Murray, Senior Technical Editor -- Design News, November 10, 2008
General Motors, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Honda and Smart USA teamed up with engineers from Consumer Reports recently to demonstrate next-generation automotive powertrains at the "Future of the Car" event here in East Haddam, CT.
The event highlighted fuel cells, electric drives, hybrids and gasoline-burning economy cars as a way of laying the foundation for consumers to better understand their future choices.
"It's almost like going back to the turn of the century, when they had steam power and electric power and gasoline was just in its infancy," said David Champion, senior director of the Consumers Union Auto Test Center. "Now it's a slightly different situation. It's more environmental. We know we're going to run out of petroleum products at some point in time."
At the event, Consumer Reports provided a wide variety of alternative fuel vehicles for attendees to test drive in a driving rain storm at Consumer Reports' auto test facility course. Chevrolet allowed drivers to try out its Equinox Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle while Honda demonstrated its FCX Clarity Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle. SmartUSA offered up a gasoline-burning "Smart fortwo;" BMW demonstrated its hydrogen-based H7; Nissan displayed an Altima hybrid and Ford had its Escape hybrid and its Lincoln MKS with EcoBoost engine technology. Members of the Electric Auto Association also showed off a 1991 Volkswagen Jetta and a 1981 DeLorean, both of which had been converted to operate off battery power. Notably, however, General Motors did not bring its high-publicized Chevy Volt to the event.
Test drives of the vehicles were followed by explanations of the technology and a discussion on whether "miles per gallon" is still a legitimate way to measure vehicle efficiency, especially in light of the increased use of electrical power.
Representatives from the Electric Auto Association also took the opportunity to query General Motors on why none of the utility companies had purchased the automaker's now-defunct EV1, adding that "we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore." A GM representative at the event replied that consumer interest in the EV1 at the time was very low.
Consumer Reports representatives said the motivation for the event was to allow the consumer community to be exposed to the technical issues surrounding alternative fuels, and to serve as a small step in helping society solve its automotive energy dilemmas.
"There's got to be something as a society that we can do to look at where the car is now and where we want it to be in 2050 when our kids are grown up and driving," Champion said.
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Consumer Reports Future of the Car Event
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